昭和五十八太郎

Greetings from an avid Sumo fan who grew up in Japan and missed going to the Kokugikan every few months for some great sumo. :) I'm Swedish, studying in the UK. Keep up with sumo on the news and any youtube videos I can find. :)

Just imagine how happy Akinoshima was, with 14 Kinboshi under his belt by 1992, and staying in the top ranks till 2003. With 40k per tournament (240k per annum) for 11 years. You do the math. Although I am sure that in my childish calculations I'm omitting that it wasn't always that kind of a cash sum, but it would've still given him substantial cash. :)

Ah, Hokutoriki, the human yoyo. Bottom of Makunouchi and he looks like he is priming himself for yokozune. Maegashira 2 or higher, and he looks like he started the tournament with his arms back at the shitakubeya. Bless his little heart.

Cheers. I look forward to having some good discussions with many knowledgable fans of the sport. :-D Will hopefully not disappoint with my own understanding of things. I'm in York right now.

I think that it is great fun to have all the yokozuna enter. I mean even if you didn't realize there is a different style to some of them, and that they really bring out the best of their own style in each entrance, it's also just a matter of plain respect. You wouldn't have only half the rikishi come in every other day because they technically do the same thing. It's part of the tradition that makes Sumo so grand. :-D

FWIW, I've just run Akinoshima's career results through my bonus money spreadsheet and I have him at career bonus earnings of 84,738,000 yen. For comparison Kaio, with bonuses based on 5 career yusho and and "only" 6 kinboshi, stands at 90,776,000 total right now, and Asashoryu at 85,742,000. There we go, beating giants can bring in some nice cash. Although I didn't realize it was just under 85 million! That is pretty impressive. Surely he must be the richest man who didn't win a ton of tournaments. :-P

Speaking as someone who grew up in Japan, I think that you can do quite a lot at home, obviously, by just having multiple languages alive and well. In my house, both my parents spoke Swedish, my maid spoke English, and then obviously Japanese came from all directions, although I would imagine that any Japanese spoken at home will make it easier for them to learn. The biggest 'challenge' really will likely come from the choice of school. That usually determines what level of the different languages you will get. I know that growing up in Ashiya, I went to Canadian Academy out on Rokko Island which was a brilliant school, and Osaka International School is also pretty good, from what I know. By contrast, Japanese schools are not in my field of expertise, though I'm sure they do quite well. My brother just had a baby with his Japanese wife. He assures me that the house will be mostly Japanese, with English and Swedish coming in from around the age of 3. At least that is the plan.

I can see why Asashoryu isn't getting the Kensho left right and center, which is of course unfortunate for Miyabiyama, but what on earth is Kotoshogiku doing with 7! :P I think this race is going to keep getting lopsided at this rate. :P

B-) Bye bye love, bye bye happiness. (Applauding...) I jest of course, but what a great image of the Yokozuna after a defeat.

Wow, that is one long and terrifying name. Anyone who can find a way to include Macht in the name is out to become something special. Wonder what he'll be called for short. Mahato... Monkh... Monkmacht.. :P

Yeah, I grew up with Konishiki, I mean he entered Sumo the year before I was born, and his greatest days were when I was 5-6 so it inevitably had a pretty big impact upon my perception of him, and I was among the many fans who cheered him on even in his Makunouchi career. I even wrestled against him once B-) as a little kid. That was fun. THere were very many of us. :P We beat him, but I think he may have let us. (Applauding...)

Seven times, to be exact. (The nine days listed minus 1999.09.03 and 2000.03.06 where one yokozuna was on the schedule but did not compete.) 7 days. Oh well, at least my memory wasn't failing me. Those were the 'golden years' for me, but even Golden Years can fade in memory. Yes, even at the ripe old age of 24. :P :P Thank you for finding that statistic, very nice to see such diligent and quick replies.

Nope, I recall several of our more experienced members describing much the same thing, as well as discussions about what sort of taichiai are seen on videos of the classic bouts. Glad it isn't just me. I know when I was a kid, so talking probably late 80s, early 90s, you still had to have some near contact and the like, not as bad as the old day swhere swinging your arms past your knees counted as a start, but still, it wasn't rigid. It lead to such lovely bouts as that legendary bout between Asanowaka and Kyokudouzan, where Kyokudouzan literally cartwheeled over the flailing Asanowaka for an easy Okuridashi win. Took a heck of a leap no doubt. :) Those were the days.

Thank you for the links to the films. Man, Asashoryu, say hello to retirement. When a fat and flabby Miyabiyama makes you look bad, you're not in a good state. :P I exaggerate. Miyabiyama is ex-ozeki and a capable wrestler, but it goes down in my book as an upset. Also, Kotooshu, what were you thinking? :)

Am I the only one who remembers back when you barely needed to brush the dohyo to start the match, and you even had the odd jikan-mae. That's long gone. . .

Yeah, it was the old Taka-Waka Akebono and the Moose that I was remembering. But with Akebono being injured, Musashimaru going down for a bit, and Takanohana having the knee-injury and Wakanohana retiring, I couldn't remember if they were together all four very often. It was a while ago. :P

If anyone is posting videos, please inform me because I won't lie, Sumo is not big in the UK. (Shaking head...) Why did I move. . .

YEah, to the best of my knowledge the only thing that changes is the order in which the Yokozuna do the dohyo-iri in. When we've had 2 or more Yokozuna they have always all done the yokozuna dohyo iri. My memory may serve me poorly, but I'm sure there was a period where you did have 4 yokozuna who all did it at once. Luckily that period doesn't last too long. :P

Man, battle of the giants with 1 knee didn't go the way I thought I thought it would... Well done to Baruto. :)

I just wanted to point out that Asanowaka was never going to be a human highlight reel against the top rankers. He could never be a Giant Killer, as he was all about the tricks and the top tier were too good for that. But against all the middle makunouchi men, he was a consistent handful. I always thought that his greatest asset was his ring-sense and his balance, rather than any strength or quickness. He just managed to find himself in the right positions every time, and that is what made him so capable of sticking in the top. (Shaking head...) I also think that the best pre-tachiai moments were always Asanowaka-Mitoizumi back when there was still a little pre-bout pushup and a serious salt-fling by Asanowaka, contrasted with the gargantuan fist of salt by Mitoizumi. Made me cheer every time I saw it live as a little kid. :)

Cheers, it's been fun browsing the forums today. And yes, Kotonowaka, what a legend. :) That tournament where he started flawlessly and came close to winning the Emperors Cup was a good one. Also, I recall one bout between him and Takanonami, the referee looked like a midget in that one :P

Well, Taro would seem faster, although my name is Sebastian. :) I don't mind any nickname.